With poor milk prices and increasing production costs, many conventional producers have converted to organic farming. Organic producers and those in transition from conventional to organic need effective alternatives for managing insect pests. Research has shown that augmentative releases of pteromalid wasps in and around dairy barns is effective in managing house fly populations. This on-farm demonstration project was conducted to promote the use of this biocontrol practice among organic dairy farmers. Using sentinel fly pupae and speck cards we were able to demonstrate increased parasitism and decreased fly activity on farms where the pteromalid wasp, Muscidifurax raptor, was released compared to a control barn, where no wasps were relesased.
Species 1: hymenoptera Pteromalidae Muscidifurax raptor
Species 2: Diptera Muscidae Musca domestica (house fly)
Keywords: parasitoid, demonstration
The ESA 2001 Annual Meeting - 2001: An Entomological Odyssey of ESA